Why Whoopi Goldberg Never Hosted ‘Saturday Night Live’

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Whoopi Goldberg has been a famous name in comedy for decades, but the 69-year-old host of The View said she never wanted to host the iconic comedy show Saturday Night Live.

While hosting is considered a rite of passage by some, the EGOT winner explained during a red carpet interview at SNL50: The Anniversary Special, on February 16 that she simply never wanted to commit to the gig’s long hours and intense writing schedule.

“It required a week, it required you to sit with people and write sketches and I didn’t really have the time. And I didn’t want to do that, I’d been doing that for years,” said the actress. “I just wanted to work on my own.”

Still, Goldberg remembers the last time she appeared on the NBC program fondly because of the circumstances that led her to it. “Justin Bieber asked me to intro him,” she said with a smile, “and that’s how I got there.”

Though the Sister Act star told the interviewer that she appeared on Saturday Night Live “Only once,” she actually has been on the program twice. Before she introduced Bieber in 2013, Goldberg appeared as herself in a sketch called “Translator” in 1986.

When asked who would be on her “SNL Mount Rushmore,” Goldberg said that Billy Crystal was the only one who made the cut. “Because he’s brilliant,” she added. She also shared her thoughts on SNL‘s political influence over the years. When asked whether the political satire on the show was “an echo chamber” that just said what its viewers were already feeling, she replied, “I think it’s different at different times. Sometimes it’s an echo chamber, and sometimes it’s something different.” As for what she hoped to see in the anniversary special, Goldberg simply said, “I hope it’s funny!”